I still plan to do a couple of yarn giveaways in the next few months, but I've decided to jumpstart my destashing by (hopefully) selling a bunch of yarn-- some discontinued, and some not.

I haven't worked with many variegated or nubbly textured yarns before, so after knitting up a swatch in my Shire Silk, I was quite disappointed to see that the Bead Stitch pattern, from which the more complicated Four Sisters pattern is derived, was quite lost amidst the nubbles.  I suppose a larger needle might have helped, but the stockinette portion seemed about right; I didn't want it any looser--nor did I think it was worth swatching the Four Sisters, given what I had already seen.  The Bead Stitch is at the bottom of the swatch, while at the top  is a simple rib; I was wondering whether any stitch pattern would show up in this stuff. Then I thought that perhaps a big cable would be nice, so I tried that, with so-so results.  This "Framed Cable" pattern is really great, too, pictured on the far left in the book; I'll have to use it for something else.  So what to do with this Shire Silk, in what is a nicer color than it appears in the picture (mainly a light silvery green which reminds me of the foliage of a Russian olive tree)??  If it is destined to be a slouchy pullover in mostly stockinette, then I will definitely have to get one of those knitting machines. So I shelved the Shire Silk for now, and moved on to my second choice:  Debbie Bliss Pure Silk.  Wow, this is slippery; so slippery that when I pulled it off my ballwinder, it promptly collapsed.  I tried to rewind it, and here is the resulting mess.  Not only is it slippery, but it twists around itself if given the chance.  I finally had to cut it in a couple of places, which for someone like me, who abhors working in ends, is highly annoying. Stay tuned:  will the Pure Silk redeem itself once knit?  I wonder....

Although I did in fact get some knitting done yesterday, the day was mostly devoted to holiday-appropriate activities such as eating and drinking to excess, swimming, hanging out by the pool with the relatives, breaking up fights amongst the ove